Twilight watched as the coffee maker sprung to life upon the push of a button, its whirring signaling a soon to be enjoyed cup of joe could be in her hooves.
Well, enjoyed if it wasn’t her fifth cup since getting up six hours ago.
She yawned heavily, using her magic to open the fridge to pull out a small carton of cream, and some sugar cubes which were in a small container next to said fridge. The machine clicked off, and she levitated the mug filled with the steamy caffeinated beverage next to the one she had just made.
She likes it sweet, four cubes and a splash of milk.
Normally Twilight would add a little sugar and milk for herself, but given how much of the liquid she had already consumed, she didn’t really care what it tasted like. It provided her a small amount of energy to keep up with her current studies and research, and that was her only care in the world right now. That, and taking care of her marefriend.
She trotted slowly down the hall, careful to not spill a drop of coffee on the pristine marble floors, well, mostly pristine anyway. The sheen had worn off somewhat, and there was evidence of dust in some of the crevices where there were more complex designs. This combined with the moisture from a recent stretch of warm humid weather made her take a mental note to take care of the matter at a later date.
She passed by her study, and briefly glanced into the room she had basically called her home in the expansive castle for weeks now.
To many, it would have looked like a chaotic mess, but to her it was a chaotic yet organized mess. Papers with scribbles of various thoughts and ideas littered the corkboards she had installed on the walls to create more space. Books were scattered from one end of the room to the other, many in semi-neat piles, with bookmarks of all different colors and shapes sticking out of every one. Some had enough colors to them where they looked like the colorful main attached to her marefriend, ironic considering the subject matter at hoof involved pegasi wings.
Finally she made it to her own bedroom, a room which she had not slept in herself in the same amount of weeks, choosing instead to use a small guest room.. She started to feel some apprehension, and considered going back to her studies and to check on her later.
No Twilight, you haven’t checked on her in a while, stop putting it off.
She sighed, and gently knocked on the partially closed door.
“Can I come in?”
Twilight expected no response, and carefully swung open the door with her magic after waiting for a few moments.
Her room looked every bit the same as it always did. A simple setup, with light violet curtains donning the large windows, some bookshelves which contained her very favorite selections, and a large canopy bed as the centerpiece of the room, all of which were surrounded by many different sized and shaped crystals.
The only difference was the pegasus who currently was laying, partially sitting up, in said large canopy bed.
“I brought some coffee for you. It’s extra sweet, just like you always like it,” she said, placing the mug on the small nightstand next to the bed.
“…Thanks.”
At least she said something this time.
Twilight hopped up so she was sitting on the far end of the bed, keeping as much distance as she could between the two of them. She could feel something different when they were in the room together, the spark missing between them they usually had, replaced with an icy wall erected in its place. They sat there in uncomfortable silence, the only noise coming from the small sips Twilight took of her own mug of coffee she held in her hooves.
“Rainbow… we have to talk about this eventually you know.”
She had been looking away from the door when Twilight had entered the room, content to simply watch the world go by through the large bedroom windows. For the first time since Twilight even came into the room, Rainbow turned her attention to her.
Twilight swore she felt a slight chill in her spine as Rainbow’s cold, apathetic eyes met hers.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
Twilight sighed, placing her mug next to Rainbow’s, which still remained untouched as the wisps of steam rising from the mug began to wane.
She didn’t really know what to say to her. Positivity wasn’t ever her strong suit, but Twilight knew that she had to do something to try and snap Rainbow out of her funk, or it would continue to consume both of them in due time.
“Look… I get it, this is a real terrible situation to be…”
“…YOU get it?!” Rainbow barked out of nowhere startling Twilight, “How in the buck would you understand?!”
“I’ve been reading,” Twilight hesitated, “Maybe there is a way to fix it, or robotic wings perhaps? There might be…”
“Oh for bucks sake, this isn’t something that’s gonna be in a damn book!”
“Dash,” Twilight sighed sadly, rubbing her temple with a hoof, “There are some books that talk about this sort of thing. Please, I’m just trying to help you know.”
“Do you really think a lecture is gonna help?!”
“…No? Well maybe it can? I read about some deep breathing exercises and light stretches that could help relax the mind. We could try them together perhaps?”
Rainbow stared at Twilight, almost melting a hole through her head as she did so. Then, she just began to laugh uproariously, her head tilting upwards towards the high vaulted ceilings of the bedroom. The echo carried throughout the room, almost sounding like a pained supervillain’s laugh while being as far from the carefree laughs she would have with her friends.
“Oh that’s rich,” She wiped a lone tear away from her eye, “You really think me just relaxing will just solve this?”
“That’s not what I said, come on Rainbow,” Twilight responded dejectedly.
“Oh sorry, maybe I’d feel better if I just relaxed.”
Twilight glared back, visibly becoming annoyed, but knew the stress and anxiety of the situation was the one talking here, not Rainbow herself.
She sighed, and hoped that was the case.
“Rainbow, I’m not a doctor,” Twilight replied, her voice sounding frustrated, yet tinged with sadness, “But I’ve been trying to figure out if there’s anything we can do to heal them more. We’re in this together okay, please, I’m trying my best to help you!”
Twilight watched as Rainbow began to growl, and almost looked like she was going to scream. She tore off the light blanket she had draped over her body, throwing it aside and off the bed entirely. It flew off towards the edge of the room, and actually made a slight audible thud as it smacked the window sill.
“Does THIS look like we’re in it together?!”
She turned, presenting her back towards Twilight. Where there used to be a well preened, near perfectly symmetrical pair of wings sat a now irregularly shaped, mangled mess that made Twilight wince every time she saw them. Her feathers were bent out of place at so many angles she couldn’t even keep count, with bandages still in places where the breaks were at their most severe, even weeks after the incident.
“Unless I’m also bucking blind now, your wings seem fine,” Rainbow spat while attempting to unfurl one of her wings just to cement to point. “My wings though… I don’t even know if I can call these wings anymore.”
She shifted her weight in the bed to sit up higher, as her frustrations continued to rise, despite being at a elevated level for weeks at this point.
“You think a book will fix this?! Hell, I hope you find one that does, but I’m pretty damn doubtful.”
Twilight watched as Rainbow winced when she attempted to move again, stopping when she reached a specific sitting position that allowed the pain to subside somewhat. There were only a couple of positions that she could even use where the pain went down to almost nothing, and only two which allowed her to lay down to fall asleep.
“I’m tired Twi. I’m tired of all this optimistic crap, I’m tired of not being able to do anything, I’m tired of being treated like a foal, and I’m tired of you thinking we’re going to be okay.”
Twilight didn’t say anything, nor did she even know how to respond. She could feel tears start to roll down her cheeks as she simply stared at the broken pegasus she called her marefriend, desperate to do something, to at least say something to help her from drowning in her anguish.
“Rainbow please, I love…”
“…Let’s face it, who knows if I’ll ever be okay.”
It was brisk and quite breezy for a day in the middle of spring. Fluttershy didn’t seem to mind however, as she tended to the gardens and plants which surrounded her cottage, pulling some pesky weeds and making sure her tomato plants were teaching themselves to properly grow upward.
She had been hard at work since the early morning, knowing that she still had plenty of animals to take care of once she was finished.
She looked down to see Angel standing in front of her, tapping his foot impatiently and pretending to read his nonexistent watch.
“Oh, is it lunchtime already? Well let’s go have a quick bite, I still have a lot of work to do.”
As she trotted back to the cottage however, she could make out the silhouette of her alicorn friend slowly making her way up the path, dragging her hooves as she did so. Fluttershy could only sigh as she noticed it was Twilight, but felt a huge ping of sadness when she could finally see the body language her friend wore.
Twilight was a wreck, both physically and mentally. She wore the expression of somebody who had told her that every book in the world had been taken and burned, and the residual tear stains which dotted her face showed that she had cried for quite a while before making her way here.
She looked up once she crossed over the bridge, looking up silently at Fluttershy, who frowned slightly as their eyes met. No word needed to be said as Fluttershy nodded understandingly, leaving the door open as Twilight followed her and Angel inside.
“I just need to feed Angel, just give me a moment okay?”
Twilight nodded, taking a seat on the small green sofa in front of the window. She looked down at the couch as she waited, noticing that there was an indent in the upholstery from the last time she had come to her friend’s home, which only was a couple days ago.
She turned around and watched outside as all the animals went about their days. But she focused on the birds specifically, as they chirped happily all around a fully stocked birdfeeder. Twilight watched as one robin unfurled its wings and took off, flying high and majestically into the sky until it was nothing more than a blip on the horizon. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she watched the robin leave her own sight, too exhausted to even attempt to hold them back as they fell onto her coat.
She didn’t hear as Fluttershy came up from behind her, and turned her around to wrap her in a comforting embrace. Twilight said nothing, choosing to bury her head into Fluttershy’s mane and simply let her emotions get the better of her.
Fluttershy let her go and propped Twilight’s chin up, wiping the stray tears off her face with a tissue she had grabbed.
“She isn’t any better is she?”
Twilight sniffled, and shook her head lightly.
“I didn’t think so. Is she at least healing okay?”
“That part seems to be improving,” Twilight responded, “But that really isn’t the problem now. It’s her mental state.”
Fluttershy took a seat on the opposite side of the couch, and gestured for her to continue.
“We… we had a fight today, it was pretty bad.” She watched the features on Fluttershy’s face fall slightly, and Twilight could feel some more tears sitting in the corner of her eyes, ready to fall yet again. “I don’t know what else I can do to help. I’ve been doing research on some possible way to fix her condition, and I think I’ve read more about pegasi wings in the last few weeks than some doctors have read ever!”
“Do you think you’ll find something?”
“I don’t know, maybe I’ll find something the doctors all missed,” Twilight said, somewhat exasperated, “I mean you never know, malpractice does happen on occasion, so it is possible that there is something that they missed when it came to examining her wings following the accident…”
“Twilight!”
Twilight stopped and stared in surprise at the sudden out of character outburst from her friend.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Fluttershy said, sighing lightly. “I think you’re focusing on something that you think you can fix, but you really can’t.”
“I still have books to look through…”
“No more books, stop it,” Fluttershy said, cutting off Twilight before another tirade could start. “Twilight, I’m your friend, but you need to stop trying to think you can fix anything and everything. You’re not a doctor, and in all honesty, you should trust what the doctors say. I know, it really is terrible, but they would know better than either of us.”
Twilight stood up, clearly bothered by something that had been said, and started pacing around.
“I know, but I can understand books so easily, and there has to be something out there, a procedure, maybe even a spell which can remedy this. I know it’s out there!” She exclaimed, with obvious fake optimism that anypony could see through. “I have to find it Fluttershy… I have to remedy the situation I caused. I just had to tell her that it would be cool if she learned a new trick for a birthday present and…”
Twilight couldn’t finish the sentence before she felt sobs overtake her yet again. She fell in a heap on the floor, only to feel Fluttershy slowly get her back on her hooves and lead her to sit on the couch.
“I know you want to have something to blame, I understand that,” Fluttershy started, offering Twilight another tissue which the alicorn accepted, “But sometimes, freak accidents happen. I’ve had some of my animals get injured, some even die,” Fluttershy herself choked up a little bit but held stoic. “But it was simply due to forces outside of my own control. I couldn’t have done anything to stop it, I just need to accept the situation and move on, even if I may not want to.”
Fluttershy got up, leaving Twilight to collect her thoughts for a moment. She put on a small kettle of water, and fetched two teacups out of her pantry, along with two tea bags. They were both chamomile, the perfect kind of tea to help calm the pent up stress and anxiety that wrecked her poor friends brain.
Soon the water came to a whistling boil, and Fluttershy poured a small amount into each cup, followed by a tea bag. She trotted over with both cups, placing one down on the small side table next to the side of the couch Twilight currently sat on.
“It’s Chamomile. Trust me, it can help you relax a little bit, but be careful, it’s hot.”
“Hang on.” Twilight’s horn glowed briefly, before a tiny gust of air gently blew over each one of cups, cooling the liquid to an acceptable temperature. Twilight took a sip, and sighed with content, she barely drank any of the coffee she had made earlier.
“I just feel like we’ve grown so far apart in the last month or so, “Twilight started, swirling the tea in her cup before taking another sip, “I keep trying to help, and I’m being pushed away at every step of progress we might make. I’m just afraid of Rainbow feeling like she can’t be with me if she doesn’t even know who she is anymore.”
“Well, they were her wings, and flying is her life,” Fluttershy responded, “I know Rainbow as well as anypony, and she’s stubborn as can be when something goes wrong. Telling her she can’t do what she loves… it’s no wonder she just shut down and wants to be left alone. Imagine telling me I couldn’t take care of animals, or that you couldn’t read.”
“So, what do you think I should do?”
“She does need her space, as long as I’ve known her that’s always been constant. But you need to be as stubborn as you can in being by her side and supporting her. Love her until she’s sick of it, trust me, she’ll appreciate it,” Fluttershy giggled slightly which caused Twilight’s mouth to curve slightly into a grin. “Hang tight, I want to find something. I have an idea.”
Tucked in the corner above one of her many cabinets was a small bookshelf. Fluttershy wasn’t anywhere near the avid reader her bookworm friend was, but she kept a small collection of mostly animal care guides, gardening guides, and the occasional romance novel she liked to enjoy. However, there was one book which she grabbed that felt a bit out of place on her list.
“Advanced flight techniques for wonderbolt performances? I’m surprised you have that, you never seemed like the type to really use that stuff, no offense,” Twilight commented.
Fluttershy chuckled lightly. “I’m not, Rainbow gave this to me. but I did accept it for a reason. You know how everypony has that one thing they always will use to help relax or calm them in any situation?”
Twilight nodded. “I tend to organize books when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed out, why?”
“Well, I have tea for example. There’s a reason I always encourage everypony who visits me to have a cup. Rainbow Dash actually has this as well, although I’m not sure she ever told you about it.”
A questionable expression lined Twilight’s face, “I don’t think she ever has honestly. I always assumed flying in general filled that void for her.”
“It does to an extent, but there is something else.”
Fluttershy opened the book to a specific page, which contained a somewhat yellowed piece of paper folded many times over in order to fit. She opened it up to reveal a map of Ponyville, only it wasn’t a normal aerial view, but a cross section of the town which showed elevations, jet streams, wind patterns, and various areas where clouds would form most often. She handed it over to Twilight, who was extremely curious about the map’s contents.
“Woah, this is extremely detailed.”
“It sure is, and this book also shows the different flying methods you need to use to get through some of them, as well as the weather patterns and clouds you might encounter.”
Twilight was deep in thought looking over the map, back at the opened book on the counter, and then back at the map again.
“Is there somewhere she goes that’s up beyond the normal cloud level or something?”
Fluttershy beamed. “I knew you’d figure it out as soon as I brought this stuff out.”
She pointed at a spot on the map, way high up and nearly off the top off the map entirely.
“There is a spot right on the outskirts of town that Rainbow goes to here and there. From what she told me, it’s a specific location where the natural cloud cover is usually less dense, and the currents a bit weaker so it makes it easier to fly through. That’s important because she needs to get through all of that to get up to this level.”
Twilight looked at the elevations listed on the map, and her eyes bugged out slightly. “She gets to over 4 miles in the air?!”
Fluttershy nodded. “Yes she does. But up there above the vast majority clouds are only cirrus clouds. I can vouch for her when she said they are the most beautiful things she’s ever seen, mostly because they are completely naturally made and have such a serene quality to them.”
“So she would just go up there to watch them go by?” Twilight questioned.
“Yes, and she’d also like to go up there when the sun was lower in the afternoon, because it would reflect off the ice crystals in the clouds themselves. Imagine these long wispy clouds made of what look like gems.”
Twilight focused her attention on the book, flipping through some of the pages and examining the techniques listed. “Some of these look extremely difficult to do.” She read through more of the pages. “Wait, did you actually do all of these?”
“Barely.” Fluttershy stretched her wings as she reminisced. “There was this one time where Rainbow wanted to take me up there. She helped me learn a lot of the flying techniques in the book. From what she told me, I was the only one who ever went up there other than herself.”
“Wait… do you think I should go up there?” There was an audible hint of fear in Twilight’s voice.
“It was her special spot Twilight, her sanctuary. And now, she can’t obviously go up there, most likely ever again. Plus, I think you’ve become a strong enough flier to learn the techniques enough to fly her up there with you.”
Twilight hopped off the couch, and reflectively unfurled her wings, stretching them and wondering if they could handle the physical toll that these methods would place upon them.
“I think being an alicorn also would help,” Fluttershy mused, “I’m sure you’re stronger than you might think.”
“Even though, how am I going to learn this stuff? It took me forever to just master everyday flying, and I don’t think that I can learn this stuff that quick?”
“I may be rusty, but I’ll happily teach you,” Fluttershy offered with a smile, “if it means we get closer to helping Rainbow feel like her old self, then I’ll help any way I can.”
Twilight beamed both inside and out. What seemed like a hopeless situation only an hour ago suddenly had a bright optimistic spark that she was going to do her damnest to capture.
“When do you want to start?”
Twilight looked at the clock on her night stand, buried around multiple piles of books which obscured its view. The bright violet hour and minute hands showed 4:16 in the afternoon, which left her approximately 15 minutes before she had wanted to leave to go to the takeoff point.
She slowly got up from her desk where she had been busy at work reviewing more articles showing attempts to repair nerve endings within wing muscles, even more sketches and scribbles filling her walls than last week. Letting her wings unfurl, she gave them a big stretch, wincing at first but feeling a bit of bliss as some of the soreness slipped away slightly.
For somepony who seemed so gentle and timid, Twilight was surprised by how ruthless a teacher she was, although it was better that she was given the timeframe. They went over the techniques she would need to know till Twilight swore she imagined herself performing all of them in her dreams, and falling asleep was easier than ever given the constant amount of soreness that permeated her body, almost reaching her core.
Somehow they had seemingly pulled it off, as normally the techniques needed would take most pegasi months, and sometimes years to perfect to the level she would need to be at. They didn’t really have that time though, but Fluttershy seemed confident and optimistic, although she seemed to always be that way even when things seemed at their bleakest.
Twilight started pacing around the small amount of floor which remained clear of books and papers as every bad scenario she could think of flooded into her mind.
What if I can’t pull off one of the techniques? What if I don’t have the strength to propel us high enough? What if I can’t convince Rainbow to even go on this damn walk?!
Twilight put her hoof down.
No. Focus. You can do this, you NEED to do this for her.
She grabbed the saddle in the corner of her room and fastened it to her back, making sure to pull the straps just a bit tighter since Rainbow would be up there holding onto her.
Twilight made her way over to her bedroom, listening to any movement and smiled at the sound of somebody else moving around on the marble floors.
She knocked on the door, and was happy to get a response telling her she could come in.
Upon opening the door, she saw that Rainbow was standing up on her own hooves, looking out the window as she watched ponies go about their own lives. She had been improving steadily over the past week, and actually did start to test herself by standing up for hours at a time, or walking to different parts of the castle. Twilight did worry a bit about if Rainbow couldn’t walk all the way to the spot on the outskirts of town, but the saddle worked as an excuse in case she would need to have to carry her back.
The most important thing was that she showed signs of actually wanting to get better.
“Hey, uh I was going to go for a walk to get some fresh air, I’ve been cooped up in that room all day doing research like always,” Twilight chuckled, but her smile faltered some when Rainbow’s expression remained unreadable. “Would you like to come?” Twilight hoped Rainbow wouldn’t notice the nervousness in her voice too much.
“…Sure, I haven’t been outside either. I’m getting pretty bored of being trapped in here ya know.”
Twilight beamed, “Cool, I need to grab a couple things, meet me by the front of the castle in five okay? Let me know if you need help down the stairs.” She swore she could feel Rainbow rolling her eyes at the last comment, but was just happy at how easy it was to get her to join her on the walk.
Although she said in five minutes, it only took Twilight 10 seconds to get downstairs, mostly propelled by her own excitement and nervousness. She took out the map tucked away in one of the saddle pockets, opened it up and quickly looked over it once more. It had been the 10th time she had went over the exact route she needed to take, but she wanted to make sure she didn’t get lost.
“Hey, you ready?”
Twilight turned to see Rainbow Dash coming down the hall. Although being cooped up didn’t affect Twilight much, it shows its signs on Rainbow more severely, especially when coupled with the injuries. Rainbow’s stature was relatively unchanged, but her muscle mass dropped significantly. She would have guessed she might be somewhat underweight at the moment.
She watched as she walked, and realized while she did a good job of hiding it, she still seemed unsteady, with the damage to her wings still plenty enough to affect her balance. But all these were thankfully temporary, and the more active she would get, the quicker things would return to normal
Celestia, I hope this works.
Twilight used her magic to open the massive, wooden front doors of her castle, and remembered that she wanted to put smaller, more friendly looking ones up one day.
“So, I thought we could just walk to the outskirts of town, there’s a spot that apparently gets good views of the sunset a bit south of Fluttershy’s house,” Twilight swore she saw Rainbow’s ear perk up, “Is that okay?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Fine by me, I don’t really care where we go.”
The pair mainly walked in silence, and Twilight was just thankful it didn’t feel as awkward as it before when she practically had to beg for conversation from Rainbow. She did have to slow herself down a couple of times, given that her nervousness was also causing her to speed up more often than not.
Their path mostly stayed away from the busier downtown area, but they did see a couple ponies as they went, and every single one waved, said hello, or tried to have some small talk. Twilight normally would happily chat with anypony given her status and not wanting to look like a stuck up princess, but she was getting worried about timing, and kept looking at the sun after every pony she talked to.
Rainbow for the most part didn’t say anything, content to either nod or stand respectfully next to Twilight with a forced smile. Twilight watched her out of the corner of her eye and realized how uncomfortable she was even interacting with people in her current state. Thankfully every pony seemed to avoid asking about her wings.
Finally, Twilight could see Fluttershy’s home way in the distance to the northeast.
“So, I had a question.”
“Shoot.”
“So you know how I’m not really the best flier or anything right…?” Twilight asked a bit hesitant, realizing the topic was going to hit a sore spot.
“You’re not bad,” Rainbow interjected, sounding a bit pained regarding the topic, “You’re actually way better than you think. Why, what’s up?”
“Well,” she started, “I was actually reading on some tricks that I could do to make myself stronger, and I was wondering if you could critique me on them.
Rainbow sighed heavily, and looked somewhat annoyed. “I kinda don’t want to be reminded I can’t fly Twi, ya know?”
“Come on Rainbow, please, for me?” she pleaded, putting her best interpretation of puppy dog eyes on.
“…Fine,” Rainbow responded, rolling her eyes, “So do you want me to hop on your back or something then?”
“Yep, that’s why I wore this!” Twilight patted the saddle on her back.
Twilight waited as Rainbow carefully took her time climbing up on her back, making sure to secure herself in place. “You sure you’re not gonna mess up right? I’ll be damned if I end up stuck in bed due to more injuries Twi.”
“I won’t. Pinky promise?” Twilight swore she heard the pegasus chuckle slightly.
“Pinky promise.”
“Okay then,” Twilight let her wings unfurl to their full length, giving them a couple flaps to loosen them up for the physical toll they would receive, “Hold on tight!”
Twilight started to gallop, picking up speed incredibly quick before breaking out into a full blown sprint. She focused on her breathing, making sure she was taking cyclical breaths, and then took a massive leap into the air, soaring high into the sky as her wings flapped and propelled both of them upward at an alarming velocity.
She had practiced the takeoff endless amounts of times in the past week, and celebrated in her head as she did it flawlessly.
Now to really get to the complicated stuff
They continued climbing, and she could feel the air beginning to thin slightly, while more and more cloud cover began to pop up all over the sky, obscuring her view and making her have to trust the lessons Fluttershy had taught her. She could feel the first jet stream start to aid in her flight, carrying her forward and making her feel less like an alicorn and more like a feather, and allowed the currents to envelope both of them as she continued on.
“Get ready to hang on tight, and try to lay flatter if you can!”
Twilight started flapping her wings twice as hard, their speed picking up rapidly, till some of the clouds were flying past them like a blur. She wore if she put her hoof out into one of the clouds right now, she would be able to slice some of them in half. After a little while, she began to lean left, remembering the way the currents began to shift from what Fluttershy was describing.
“No, turn the other direction!”
Twilight’s ears perked up, somewhat shocked at Rainbow’s voice. “Why right? I thought you have go to left!” she screamed.
“The current fools you into going left initially, but most of the energy is going to end up pushing you right! Trust me, if you lean right in a mile or so you’ll fall into it and it’ll be so much easier!”
“Okay! ...ready?”
Rainbow punched her twice in the shoulder, which Twilight assumed to be an a-okay.
“Oh Celestia, hold on tight!”
Like clockwork, the jet stream began to change and fold slightly into itself, looking more like a sideways tornado in reverse. Twilight felt herself begin to lean right, and watched as the cloud cover began to increase and almost resemble that of a rainstorm. Soon she felt herself doing a barrel roll, and continued to lean into it until she resembled a drill, both in shape and in motion.
She could still feel Rainbow latched onto her and hanging on for dear life, but what she didn’t expect to hear was laughter from her marefriend. Twilight internally felt a rush of energy simply from that, she forgot the last time Rainbow even seemed happy at all.
The drill technique helped them piston through the thicker cloud cover, going cleanly through it without losing much in the way of any speed. She could feel the moisture of the clouds tickle her wings as they continued their corkscrew motion, and she swore they went through so many of them that she was starting to get damp all along the sides of her body. She could only imagine how wet Rainbow must have been.
“Time do the zig zags Twi!”
Twilight started to see much darker, grayer clouds appear in occasional clumps around them. Soon however, she saw one right in her path, but right on beat, she extended her left wing so that it was pointed downward and diagonal from her torso. With a small flap upwards, the pair did a smooth little dive, right under the cloud. Rainbow swore she felt her mane frizz out from the static electricity.
The next few miles of flight were filled with these thunder cloud bunches, but for the most part Twilight weaved her way up, down, and side to side. Here and there she would narrowly avoid one of them and lose her balance slightly, but she kept on going along at a rapid clip.
Finally the clouds began to dissipate, and then she could feel the jet stream begin to level out and smooth out again, which she was thankful for as it gave her the chance to get a breather.
“Great job Twi! You got through that pretty damn well, but keep your eyes peeled, we’re getting close,” Rainbow remarked, happily watching as the clouds turned into a near empty serene blue sky. “Now you know how to do the dip right?”
“I think so, I just have to get in the right position and then just dive right?”
“Yup, and get ready, we’re close to that point! Remember, use your wings to feel the air around you too, the temp, humidity, all that stuff ya know?”
Twilight recomposed herself, and put extra focus into thinking and examining the feelings in her wings and she continued to glide along. She could feel the gradual change in the temperature and humidity levels, and could sense that the drop was coming real soon.
“Remember, you’re going to leave the stream, but you gotta catch it on the updraft after you dive! You can do this!” Rainbow encouraged enthusiastically.
Twilight nodded, before feeling the air suddenly pull sharply on her belly, trying it’s damndest to force her downward. She tilted, following the gradual slope, while the jet stream continued to drop at steeper and steeper angles. Soon, she felt like she was dropping to the earth fast enough that maybe she could create a sonic rainboom of her own.
She closed her eyes and just focused on every single one of her nerve endings, which were all screaming at her with a mixture of pain from the physical toll this was putting on them, and alarm to pull up as soon as possible.
Not yet
She could almost feel a small cone forming from the sheer amount of energy that she was using to propel downward.
Not yet
Every fiber of her being was screaming in every way possible, all telling her to pull up
NOW
Twilight pulled up, almost screaming out loud at the sudden and extreme change of force exhibited on her body and her wings. It felt like she had passed through a wall of fire, and the initial pain almost made her feel like passing out. The energy around them crackled and spread out in a chaotic manner, almost creating a sound resembling a clap of thunder as they rocketed upwards.
Soon the temperature of the air began to drop as quickly as they were gaining elevation, and Twilight swore she could feel ice begin to form on the tips of her wings. Clouds began to form around them in a small layer, but soon they dissipated. And the painful feeling in her extremities and wing began to morph into a blissful, pleasurable feeling, like she couldn’t even feel them at all.
Finally, the last of the cloud cover was left in their dust, and in their wake was nothing but seemingly clear blue skies.
But what Twilight saw next was easily one of the most amazing sights she has ever seen.
The sky before her was filled with millions of twinkling lights, illuminated by the low lying sun that was soon due to retire for the evening. These were the result of millions of ice crystals, all dancing about in an endless array of long, wispy patterns. No two were alike, and every one were unique in their size and the patterns they created.
Twilight only watched in awe as she put up a hoof and had them dancing around it, as if she was parting the entire pattern and creating brand new ones at each instance. The breezes up here were very light, but their strength was more than plenty to carry the ice crystals to and from. She never knew cirrus clouds were this pretty up close, far away they just looked like really thin clouds.
She could see why somepony would want to come up here and use this phenomenon of nature as a way to relax and de-stress.
Twilight allowed herself to comfortably, yet slowly glide along on the remains of the jet stream, now just made up of large, weaker currents that changed by the hour. She turned enough to see Rainbow just admiring the sights before her, a twinkle of wonder in her eye, like she had never been up here before.
“You know, I thought I’d never get up here again,” Rainbow said. “Lemme guess, Flutters?”
Twilight laughed “How did you know?”
“Duh, she is the only other pony in the entire universe who knew about this. And no offense, I didn’t expect you to figure it out.”
Both of them laughed, and both of them felt the stress, anxiousness and all the pessimistic thoughts leave them, even if just for a moment.
“I can certainly see why you come up here,” Twilight remarked, “It’s incredible. I wish I had some of the weather equipment I put downstairs to measure some stuff up here.”
Rainbow snickered. “Once an egghead always an egghead.”
The pair continued to float along, with Twilight occasionally using her wings to keep them at a steady, yet comfortable speed while allowing the forces that be keep them aloft.
Silence soon enveloped them both yet again, but this time it was welcomed and natural, as they were content to merely watch the scenery play out before them.
Rainbow was used to the feeling of not really having much to say these days, but she felt like just sharing the current beauty of everything in front of them was enough to speak for both of them. She had to admit to herself that being able to share something so sacred and private, yet so spellbindingly beautiful with another pony actually made the experience so much better. She’d remember the awestruck expression lining Twilight’s face for years, maybe forever.
“Hey Twi.”
Twilight had her hoof floating through another cirrus cloud, watching in glee as the ice crystals bounced off her hoof in two different directions, forming two separately unique, yet connected clouds. “Yes Rainbow?”
“I’m sorry for being a huge jerk. You were there every step of the way after the accident, even after all that nasty stuff I said and did. I’m actually surprised you didn’t just leave,” she replied, crestfallen. “I would have had a hell of a time dealing with it, even being the element of loyalty and all that stuff.”
Twilight felt a little tear at the mere idea that Rainbow thought she had warranted a break up by her behavior alone. “It’s not your fault. You can’t deal with tragedy and trauma in any specific way, it depends on the event itself. You basically lost your ability to fly,” she could feel Rainbow wince at the mention. “I don’t know how I would ever handle losing my magic. I think I should be apologizing just as much, for being too stubborn in my research to actually help you properly, not to mention causing the accident…?
“Twi, come on, you didn’t cause anything.”
“I did ask for you to attempt a new special trick for me for my birthday,” Twilight counteracted.
“Well, I sort of succeeded, mostly.”
“But I could have simply asked for something else, like a normal gift or something that most ponies get their special somepony’s. Instead, I got a bit greedy and wanted to ask for something I thought you’d love making just as much as I would love enjoying it.”
Twilight felt herself starting to cry, and cursed under her breath for feeling sorry for herself. She instead felt Rainbow’s hoof brushing them away.
“I don’t blame you at all. I was dumb, and I should have been more careful. That accident I consider lucky actually, I can still walk, and talk, and annoy you as much as I want! I could have easily killed myself instead you know.”
“Don’t talk that way,” Twilight snapped, “…Sorry.”
“It’s true though, and if I came out of that fine, I would have continued to be stubborn as hell, that’s just who I am,” Rainbow replied, matter of fact. “So again, I’m the one who should be sorry here. And no you aren’t changing my mind.”
Twilight laughed a bit. “Alright, I forgive you, but I’m still sorry you know?” She felt a hoof smack her in the back of the head lightly.
“Serious talk though,” Rainbow began, her voice dropping slightly in volume, “ I come up here way more often than you and the girls ever would know.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. There’s just something about this place, ya know? I feel like I can just lose control and let the currents push me along, and I think better when I’m flying too. It allows me too, you know, what’s that thing ponies do when they sit still?”
“Meditate?”
“Yeah that,” Rainbow said. “I can get rid of stress up here that I don’t want to show anypony else. All the wonderbolts training, all the adventures and stuff, even you sometimes, no offense, it's just a lot,” she confessed, a small amount of shame in her voice.
“Everybody has to deal with stress and manage it in some way,” Twilight replied, “But I’m surprised you thought you had to just come up here so much. You could have just asked one of us to help or talk, you know we would all be happy to do so.”
“I know, but I couldn’t…”
Twilight felt herself almost ask why, but she could sense there was an explanation coming, and continued to focus on gliding with the currents as she waited.
“I’m supposed to be the fearless one, the one who always backs everypony up,” Rainbow started, “I can’t do that without having an outlet, and I don’t wanna bore all of you with my problems. And I know, you’re going to be you and suggest different things I could do, but really it's fine, I’ll figure out something else. I don’t wanna have to drag you up here every time I feel a bit pissed off.”
They shared another bout of silence, listening closely to the sound of the tiny ice crystals bouncing off both of them as they flew through a smaller cirrus cloud. Twilight swore she felt like she could fly up here forever, but realized that soon it would be sunset, and she knew there was no way she could maneuver her way down under the cover of darkness.
A little longer wouldn’t hurt.
“You know, I was going to suggest one thing though,” Twilight remarked, feeling a pair of eyes rolling behind her.
“What’s that?”
“I plan on taking you up here more often. You did like a 180 the moment I started our journey to get up here, I was just as happy to see you happy after all that’s happened,” Twilight confessed, “If this place makes you that relaxed and blissful, I’ll keep bringing you up here, even if I think my wings might fall off getting you up here.”
Twilight could hear a bit of sniffling and a small sob that wasn’t her own, “You alright back there?”
“Other than you making me cry you egghead, yes I’m peachy.”
Both of them laughed.
Twilight felt Rainbow lean forward and snuggle her muzzle up into the back of her neck, giving her a kiss in a particular spot that made her melt. She stayed in that position, breathing in the scent from her mane as it flowed with the currents which carried them.
“You know, I’m not really good at the sappy stuff, and I know I don’t say this enough, but I love you so much Twi.”
Twilight wished she could have turned around and given Rainbow a kiss that would have completely floored the pegasus, but risking both of them falling out of the sky wasn’t worth it, even if she could have easily saved them with her magic.
“I love you too, so much more than you can ever know.”
Rainbow continued to hug her as best she could from on her back, but sat back up when she began to feel some discomfort in her own back. She just watched Twilight’s mane dance in the breeze, while she formed a silhouette from flying towards the setting sun.
“So,” Rainbow started, “About these robot wings…”
Author's Note
So I've had some ideas for this story all the way back in 2014. I consider it a miracle that I was able to find the original word doc where I listed the ideas, and that happening around when this contest first started helped this come to life.
And for anybody who knows me for Twidash stuff, it's been over 5 years since I last wrote a Twidash fic. I hope I'm still good at writing that sort of thing since I did that for so long.
Hopefully you enjoyed this, and if you're reading, please drop any thoughts you might have on this. It's always appreciated!
Until next time!
